Sports Scope-MIA, The Women’s Story
An epiphany is often described as an experience of a sudden and striking realization. Although the term has often been used to describe scientific breakthroughs, religious or philosophical discoveries, it can also apply to any situation in which an enlightening realization or moment allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective.
The ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup has provided that avenue. It has produced an epiphany; igniting a feeling of disappointment, a realization of where we can never be if the status quo continues along the same path.
We are being told, commissioned in some manner, to witness the excitement and splendor of the prestigious tournament and show appreciation for the hard work and overall effort of the Women’s Game through the ladies on display. This aforesaid message is being peddled by the powers that be.
However where is the silver lining for our girls in Guyana? Where is the great hope for the future generations, possibilities that can be met through the implementation of programmes and structures geared at producing and subsequently developing a product for display on the grandest of stages?
The sight of seeing the Reggae Girls battle Brazil in their opening match brought so many contrasting emotions to the surface.
The main emotions were joy and anger. Joy for the simple fact of seeing a CARICOM counterpart and debutant battling against a traditional giant, and anger for the realization that our women’s game is nonexistent.
Local club football is in a poor state. That cannot be questioned, as months of inactivity have plagued several member associations. This is even more evident in the Women’s game.
The National Association for Women’s Football (NAWF), the entity which is mandated to provide guidance and structure for the female arm, has achieved nothing in the progression and development of its respective constitutional objectives.
While development is a long and arduous process that does not occur overnight, where are the programmes and structures that are required for starting the process?
Does the GFF and subsequently the NAWF receive funding for this important facet of the sport? After all FIFA is on a mission to push the Women’s game.
If yes, where this funding was channeled because Women’s Football is not evident in a majority of the associations.
Maybe Women’s Football through its NAWF existence is simply a vote, a status that seems to have been affixed to other entities such the Beach and Futsal Associations.
How can the FIFA World Cup serve as inspiration for a local demographic that is not represented? I am awaiting the answer.
Our girls will simply watch in amazement and wonder why aren’t the same opportunities being afforded? I guess it’s a Man’s World and football is no different.
After all, many of the clubs in Guyana especially in the Georgetown environs, the largest football hub locally, do not have a semblance of female arms. I guess it is not important.
If football is not being played, how can we expect the women’s game to be birthed and flourish especially when it’s treated with total indifference?
For far too long, the participation and representation of women and girls in the sport was shoehorned into a placeholder capacity.
As wonderful as the FIFA Women’s World Cup has grown to become since its inception in 1991, it is still a stark reality of a failed system that highlights the inequality of the sport, especially in regions such as the Caribbean.
Let’s not forget Norwegian Ada Hegerberg, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, and her omission from the tournament. The Olympique Lyonnais star has opted out of the prestigious championship in protest at the Norwegian Football Federation’s management of its women footballers.
The four-time UEFA Champions League winner decision centred on the lack of attention in creating and fostering a culture of development as well as the overall care that the NFF paid to the women’s game, despite the team being historically more successful than their male counterparts.
Norway Women’s team won the UEFA 1987 (1st Appearance) and 1993 Championships, the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Gold Medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
They have also had second place finishes in the 1989, 1991, 2005 and 2013 editions of the UEFA Championship and the 1991 FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile the Men’s team has only participated in three FIFA World Cups (1938, 1994 and 1998) and one UEFA European Championship (2000). Their best ever finish was a bronze medal position in the 1968 Olympics.
Our Lady Jaguars were the first national team to ever qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However much is not made of their accomplishment compared to the pageantry and media spectacle which surrounded the Golden Jaguars qualification to the same event in 2019.
This is a microcosm of the issues that currently plague women’s football on the global scale much less on local shores. Is the aforementioned what we want for our women’s sporting existence and experience? Our Girls and Women Deserve Better. Let them play!